Weekend headlines made by Mission West, Ryman and Microsoft

MikeMaynard

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. made divergent moves Monday on the heels of the companies’ respective financial results.

Shares of Tesla
TSLA, +0.08%
gained after the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company reported a net loss of $111 million, or $1.05 a share, for the third quarter. On an adjusted basis, Tesla’s loss would have been $97 million, or 92 cents a share.

The consensus view of analysts had been for Tesla to show a loss of 90 cents a share in the latest quarter. The manufacturer of high-end electric cars also said it generated quarterly revenue of $50 million and stood by its top-line forecast for 2012 of $400 million to $450 million.

But shares of Time Warner Cable
US:TWC
slumped as investors reacted to lackluster results.

The New York-based company tallied a big jump in third-quarter net profit, but earnings on an adjusted basis, while higher compared to a year earlier, came up shy of analysts’ consensus. Quarterly revenue reached $5.36 billion, up 9%, as business improved in the -based company’s high-speed data segment, but this was also a shortfall from what Wall Street had been looking for. Read more about Time Warner Cable.

Also Monday, Humana Inc.
HUM, +0.84%
raised its 2012 profit forecast as the health insurer reported consensus-beating earnings for the third quarter. The Louisville-based company also said Bruce Broussard will be promoted from president to chief executive effective Jan. 1 and announced a pair of acquisitions. Read more on Humana.

Rockwell Automation Inc.
ROK, -0.39%
posted a slightly lower profit and 1% revenue growth for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30. Earnings came to $195.2 million, or $1.38 a share, off from $201.8 million, or $1.39 a share, earned in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011. Analysts’ consensus had been for a profit of $1.32 a share. Milwaukee-based Rockwell also issued its forecast for fiscal 2013, pegging earnings in a range of $5.35 to $5.75 a share on an adjusted basis as well as sales in a range of $6.35 billion to $6.65 million. These would compare to $5.29 a share and $6.26 billion, respectively, for fiscal 2012.

IntercontinentalExchange
ICE, -0.34%
posted nearly flat earnings on lower revenue for the third quarter. Profit came to $131.1 million, or $1.79 a share, down from $132.6 million, or $1.80 a share, in the year-earlier quarter, as revenue fell to $323.2 million from the prior year’s $340.8 million. Still, the consensus derived in a survey by Thomson Reuters had been for Atlanta-based ICE to turn a quarterly profit of $1.72 a share.

“Given that ESRX will not offer detailed 2013 guidance until it posts Q4 results, the upcoming Q3 should be a more straightforward event,” said Tom Gallucci, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets said in his commentary. “Core earnings growth in Q2 far exceeded expectations and as generics build and synergies begin to kick in we anticipate ESRX is well positioned to meet or exceed consensus.”

And McDermott International Inc.
MDR, +0.14%
is likely to post third-quarter earnings of 24 cents a share, according to the consensus of analysts..

Weekend headlines recap

Mission West Properties Inc.
US:MSW
said it would dispose of all real estate assets via a pair of transactions expected to be completed by year’s end, pending stockholder approval. The transactions, approved by Mission West’s board, have an enterprise value of about $1.3 billion and will yield cash distributions for stockholders of the Cupertino, Calif.-based real estate investment trust. Mission West’s current estimate is that the transactions will result in a distribution to stockholders in a range of $9.20 to $9.28 a share in cash, including an allocation for its annual dividend. Once the transactions have closed, Mission West intends to liquidate after having satisfied outstanding debts, applicable taxes and related transaction costs.

Also late Friday, Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc.
RHP, +0.57%
in the process of converting to a REIT, said its board declared a special dividend on common stock totaling about $310 million. The $6.84-a-share dividend is payable Dec. 21 to stockholders of record as of Nov. 13, the Nashville-based company said. Ryman Hospitality’s timetable is to qualify as a REIT for federal income-tax purposes effective Jan. 1.

The board of Aegion Corp.
AEGN, +0.96%
authorized a new program to buy back up to $5 million in common stock through year’s end. The authorization comes on the heels of $10 million in repurchases made by St. Louis-based Aegion during the first and third quarters. “We continue to believe that the market value of our stock does not fully reflect the true value of our businesses,” said Joe Burgess, Aegion’s president and CEO, in a statement. Aegion had about 39.6 million weighted average shares outstanding during the third quarter.

Microsoft Corp.
MSFT, +0.00%
expects to close Wednesday on offerings of $2.25 billion in senior unsecured notes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average component said. Up for sale are $900 million in 3.5% notes maturing in 2042, as well as $750 million in 2.125% notes due 2022 and $600 million in 0.875% notes due 2017. Microsoft said it will use net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include funding for working capital, capital expenditures, stock repurchases, acquisitions and debt repayment.

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